ABSTRACT
The intention of this chapter is to challenge WADA’s central argument for the prohibited list. Namely, that doping is contrary to the spirit of sport. However, this argument raises some obvious questions. What is the spirit of sport? Should we always punish an action because it is contrary to the spirit of sport? Is it always morally wrong to act against the spirit of sport? I want to show that the argument about the spirit of sport is extremely vague and that use of doping, given WADA’s vague definition, is not always contrary to the spirit of sport. Moreover, even common acts of sport such as playing cowardly in football (where the player quickly passes the ball to avoid making a mistake) or lack of joy on the field will be contrary to the spirit of sport. So why are these actions not allowed according to WADA? They should be if we entertain the idea that an action is immoral and should be punishable if it is contrary to the spirit of sport. The spirit of sport argument is another example of the double standards of the anti-doping proponents. I end this chapter by suggesting that WADA and other anti-doping organisations should primarily focus on athlete health and leave vague ramblings about the spirit of sport to the private spheres of, e.g. the locker room.
